This insect is fuzzy like a bee and acts as a pollinator as it sips nectar, but it is not a bee, it is a fly, a Greater Bee Fly (Bombylius major). Are you confused yet? Unlike bees, bee flies have only two wings instead of four, large eyes, skinny long legs and very short antennae. Bee flies also seem hyperactive, hovering in midair rather than landing as they suck up the nectar with a really long proboscis and thereby avoiding potential predators like crab spiders.
When I did a little research, though, I learned that bee flies have a dark side. According to an article entitled “A Pollinator With a Bad Reputation” by Beatriz Moisset, “The reason why it diligently hovers over bare ground early in the spring is that it is looking for bee nests, probably the same ones with which they compete for nectar. The bees dig tunnels and lay their eggs at their bottoms after collecting enough pollen to feed the larvae. This requires numerous trips, thus the bee fly takes advantage of the mother’s absence and lays its eggs in such nests. Making use of its flying prowess, it does not even need to land but it flicks its abdomen while hovering over the open burrow, letting one egg fall in or near it. The fly larva finds its way to the chamber where the mother bee has laid the provisions and the egg and proceeds to feed on the stored pollen. Afterwards it devours the bee larvae; when it is fully grown, it pupates and stays inside the nest until next spring.”
I was inspired to post this image by a recent posting by Pete Hillman entitled “Dark-edged Bee Fly” that featured a similar bee fly. In my zeal to post photos of all of the ephemeral wildflowers I had seen this spring, like the Virginia Spring Beauties in this photo, I had forgotten about this bee fly.
You may notice that the bee fly’s wings are blurred in this— image and assume that I was shooting with a slow shutter speed. I checked the EXIF data for the shot and found that the shutter speed was 1/2500 second—I think that it had consumed as much coffee as I had that late March morning. I recommend that you click on this image to see all of the amazing details of this fascinating insect, the Greater Bee Fly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
This image is stunning in every respect, Mike! The light and shadows, especially in the petals of the flowers, and the very fine details you have captured in the bee-fly are magnificent! I had my shutter speed ramped up high, too, and did not even glimpse a wing, so well done for giving us a taste of this wonderful fly’s dark-edged wings.I am pleased I prompted your memory to post this, Mike! Very inspiring work! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks, Pete. I sometimes suffer sometimes from something that is known as “recency bias.” What that means is that often I will attach so much importance to recent images, that I too quickly forget about the ones I took before them. Thanks for the gentle reminder to look back a little and to review my images a bit more thoroughly. 🙂
Don’t worry, Mike, I suffer from the same condition, too! I still haven’t posted things I took years ago!
That’s a great photo, Mike. The detail is incredible.
Nice Mike! Plus it is on an interesting flower! Love the detail!
You always educate us with your blogs, Mike. Thank you! Great photos too.
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Thanks, Mitzy, for your kind words. This spring it seems like I have been encountering all kinds of new creature, so I’ve spent more time than normal learning about them, and, as a result, sharing that knowledge. When I started this blog more than seven years ago, I thought I would just post my photos, but it didn’t take long before I realized that I enjoyed expressing myself in words. Sometimes I want to share information and sometimes I just want to share the experience, what I was seeing and thinking as I took the photos. Viewers seem to respond to both kinds of postings. Thanks for your continuing encouragement.
Wonderful photo of a bad actor. Thank you again for the education.
As a friend of mine likes to say, “Nature is scary.” 🙂
In 2006 we went to Alaska and went on several tours with a nature guide who was a doctoral student in marine biology. She described the activities just below the surface in the title shores as “murder and mayhem.“
What an interested and unexpected turn of life cycle details! One of the best things about sharing interest in the little wonders of nature is how much we can learn from each other, as well as from our own research into the ones that we find and those that other folks highlight. I’m so happy to be a part of this community!
I completely agree, Gary. I think that photograph is particularly well-suited as an avenue for this kind of sharing, because it is broad enough to be able to encompass such a broad range of interests. I can be artsy or scientific or techno-geeky in my discussion of my photos and viewers seem to respond well, especially when I am as enthusiastic as I tend to be. Sometimes I feel like a little kid who can’t restrain himself and keeps tugging on the sleeve of an adult saying, “This is so cool. Look, look, look.”
yes, Yes, YES!
I had read this post early in the morning and forwarded it on to Benjamin. I was called away to do a small task and having left the site, forgot about it until coming across it again just now. No idle praise here, but Benjamin can count his time spent on your posts as school work! I am a student too. When this photo is enlarged and then enlarged again we are face to face with this bee fly. It sounds like the bee fly has an almost parasitic relationship to the detriment of the bees. Thank-you, Mr. Mike!
Amazing details and the Spring Beauty! Whew! You are a master!!
A master? Most of the time I feel more like the student than the master. Thanks for your kind words, Molly.
What a stunning image, Mike. Great detail, nice composition, the special relationship between the bee and the flower highlighted… really beautiful.